Molly's Gang (1994)
Molly, her brother Phobo, clever Coral and doleful Gavin are a young gang of alien friends who live on the planet Gallyfrip. This jolly quartet plan games and adventures from their cosy, tree house den, with Molly as their appointed leader. But being the leader can be tricky, and Molly has numerous problems, headaches and decisions to make so that their games can run smoothly and everyone can have fun being part of the gang and exploring their little planet. With her say-so, the gang can then slide down their helter-skelter off to adventure. In the very first episode, called "Vote For Me", we see how the four friends vie to be chosen as gang leader and how Molly wins the vote, much to the chagrin of Phobo. We're also introduced to the gang's "munster" mascot Duster who crash lands on their planet in his conker-style spaceship. Duster doesn't speak, he simply rolls his eyes and sneezes a lot. Phobo adopts Duster as his best friend and buddy, and decides that having a new pal is probably better than being leader anyway. This friendly series is always bright and busy and little details catch the eye, like the way the film makers have given Phobo a cute Teddy Bear to carry around, and there's Gavin's preference for sliding down their tree house chute headfirst. The other Gallyfrip inhabitants are fun too. There's Hubble the befuddled gardener and Miranda the scientist with her wool-harvesting robot Noot (who bears more than a resemblance to Marvin The Martian!). But it's the shaman-like figure of Homer, who gives away the secret of this show's origins. He's recognisably similar to the mystic Pildit from that fan-favourite series The Dreamstone. And that's probably because "Molly's Gang" was brought to us by Martin Gates, the prolific animation producer of that show and others like The Snow Queen, "The Ugly Duckling", "Bimble's Bucket", "The Wind in the Willows" and many more. "Molly's Gang" is a rare Gates' excursion into stop-motion territory. The voices on this show are interesting. The four members of Moll'y's gang are actually voiced by younger actors, giving them just the right tone and making a welcome change from the usual adults-playing-children routine of other series. Of course, this show was produced nigh-on a decade ago, so those same voice artistes are all grown up now. Take Scarlett Strallen there, she's since voiced Princess Loretta in The Big Knights and has recently featured on the West End stage in the musical version of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". Looking down the credits one also spies the adult voice of Gary Martin all present and correct: He's a Martin Gates regular, adding his voice to a number of productions, plus he has attained True Blue toon immortality for being the voice of Honey Monster in those ever popular Sugar Puffs adverts. Interesting to note that Gary has recently leant his voice to Captain Black in the new CGI "Captain Scarlet" for Gerry Anderson. But let's get back to "Molly's Gang". This jolly series seems to have slipped under many toon radars. Whilst its adult appeal is perhaps limited (it's not as eccentric or esoteric as, say, Huxley Pig or Philbert Frog ) it's still a lovely little series, well worth tracking down again on DVD...